Vocal guidance engines for playback devices

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for vocal guidance for playback devices are disclosed. A playback device can include a first wireless transceiver for communication via a first data network and a second wireless transceiver for communication via a second data network. The device includes one or more processors and is configured to maintain a library that includes one or more source device names and corresponding audio content, the audio content configured to be played back via an amplifier to indicate association of a particular source device with the playback device via the first data network. The device receives, via the second data network, information from one or more remote computing devices, and based on the information, updates the library by: (i) adding at least one new source device name and corresponding audio content; (ii) changing at least one source device name or its corresponding audio content; or both (i) and (ii).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. PatentApplication No. 62/706,560, filed Aug. 25, 2020, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology relates to consumer goods and, more particularly,to methods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback systems or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The SONOS Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from many sources via one or more networkedplayback devices. Through a software control application installed on asmartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants inany room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using acontroller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each roomthat has a playback device, rooms can be grouped together forsynchronous playback, or the same song can be heard in all roomssynchronously. Given the ever-growing interest in digital media, therecontinues to be a need to develop consumer-accessible technologies tofurther enhance the listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a partial cutaway view of an environment having a mediaplayback system configured in accordance with aspects of the disclosedtechnology.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the media playback system of FIG. 1Aand one or more networks.

FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of an example playback device.

FIG. 2B is an isometric diagram of an example housing of the playbackdevice of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C is a diagram of another example housing for the playback deviceof FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2D is a diagram of another example housing for the playback deviceof FIG. 2A.

FIGS. 3A-3E are diagrams showing example playback device configurationsin accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram of an example controller device inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4B and 4C are controller interfaces in accordance with aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of certain components of an exampledevice employing a distributed processing architecture in accordancewith aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a module in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a vocal guidance engine for aplayback device.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method for providing vocal guidance via aplayback device.

The drawings are for purposes of illustrating example embodiments, butit should be understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings. In the drawings,identical reference numbers identify at least generally similarelements. To facilitate the discussion of any particular element, themost significant digit or digits of any reference number refers to theFigure in which that element is first introduced. For example, element103 a is first introduced and discussed with reference to FIG. 1A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Many audio playback devices, such as wireless headphones or otherportable devices, provide vocal guidance to users in the form of audiooutput to deliver relevant information regarding operation or status ofthe playback device. Examples of such vocal guidance can include a powerstate (e.g., “your battery is at 10%”), a connection status (e.g.,“connected to John's iPhone”), an indication of audio transport (e.g.,“audio moved to the Bedroom”), an incoming call notification (e.g.,“call from Jane”), or other such informational output. Because suchplayback devices may have limited memory and/or processing power, theavailable library of audio output for vocal guidance may be generallyrestricted to a handful of pre-selected words or phrases. Suchlimitations can be problematic when outputting information that caninclude a very large number of possible audio outputs. For example,indicating a connection status with an audio output in the form of“connected to device X” is challenging when “device X” can be any one ofthousands of possible device names.

One possible workaround is to limit the output to a smaller subset ofavailable information for which output audio can be stored locally onthe device. For example, the output can simply be “connected to adevice” or “connected to computer” without further specificity. Thisapproach, however, may fail to provide the user relevant information,such as which particular device among the user's many devices isconnected. Another possible workaround is to generate audio outputdynamically using text-to-speech algorithms that translate text directlyinto audio output intended to represent a speaker reading the text.However, such text-to-speech approaches can result in unnatural androbotic-sounding audio output. This approach can be particularlyundesirable when a device name (or other text field provided as input tothe text-to-speech algorithm) is non-phonetic, such as a serial numberor gibberish text string.

Yet another workaround is for the audio output to be generated remotely(e.g., via cloud servers) and transmitted to the playback device foraudio playback. This approach, however, introduces additional latencydue to the time needed to transmit requests to, and receive responsesfrom, the remote servers. Additionally, this approach may sacrifice somedegree of user privacy, as a user's information (e.g., source devicenames, etc.) may be transmitted over a wide area network to remoteservers, unbeknownst to the user. Moreover, this approach can bepower-intensive, resulting in a shorter battery life which can beparticularly undesirable for portable audio playback devices such asheadphones. Finally, this technique cannot be used when a wide areaconnection is unavailable.

Accordingly, there remains a need to provide useful vocal guidance tousers of wireless audio playback devices. As described in more detailbelow, in some embodiments, wireless playback devices can include twowireless transceivers configured to communicate over separate datanetworks (e.g., WIFI and BLUETOOTH). In operation, the playback devicemay be paired locally with a source device over a first data network(e.g., pairing with a smartphone over a BLUETOOTH connection). Theplayback device can provide vocal guidance to the user at various stagesof operation, for example to indicate a battery level, a connectionstatus, an audio transport command, etc. In some embodiments, theplayback device can provide vocal guidance regarding a connection statusby receiving information from a source device such as a device ID, MACaddress, device model, etc. The playback device may then access alibrary, which may be stored locally, to retrieve an appropriate audiooutput based at least in part on the device ID or other identifyinginformation. For example, if the device ID of the connected sourcedevice is “Tom's Samsung Galaxy Tab S4,” the corresponding audio outputbased on accessing the library may be “Samsung Galaxy Tab.” Thisidentified audio output can be stitched together as needed to generate asuitable output, such as “disconnected from Samsung Galaxy Tab.” Thisaudio output take the form of a pre-recorded audio clip (or combinationof clips), and so avoids undesirably robotic-sounding audio that canresult from fully text-to-speech based approaches.

The vocal guidance described herein may be advantageously employed inany of a variety of specialized devices. For example, the vocal guidancemay be implemented in a playback device having a distributedarchitecture. The playback device may comprise one or more amplifiersconfigured to drive one or more speakers. The one or more speakers maybe integrated with the playback device (e.g., to form an all-in-onesmart speaker) or separate from the playback device (e.g., to form asmart amplifier). The playback device may further comprise one or morenetwork interface components to facilitate communication over one ormore wireless networks. For example, the one or more network interfacecomponents may be capable of wirelessly communicating with a firstcomputing device over a first wireless network (e.g., cellular networkand/or a wireless local area network (WLAN)) and wirelesslycommunicating (e.g., simultaneously wirelessly communicating) with asecond computing device over another network, such as a BLUETOOTHnetwork. The playback device may further comprise a plurality ofprocessing components configured to execute instructions that cause theplayback device to perform various operations. The plurality ofprocessing components may comprise low-power processor(s) and high-powerprocessor(s) that are constructed differently from the low-powerprocessor(s). Additionally, the low-power processor(s) may execute adifferent operating system than the high-power processor(s). Forexample, the high-power processor(s) may be configured to supportvirtual memory (e.g., an abstraction of the available storage resources)and execute an operating system that may at least partially employvirtualized memory, such as a General-Purpose Operating System (GPOS).In contrast, the low-power processor(s) may not be configured to supportvirtual memory and execute an operating system that does not requirevirtual memory support, such as a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) orother Special-Purpose Operating System (SPOS).

It should be appreciated that the vocal guidance described herein may beadvantageously employed in specialized devices separate and apart fromplayback devices. For example, the vocal guidance described herein maybe employed in any Internet of Things (IoT) device. An IoT device maybe, for example, a device designed to perform one or more specific tasks(e.g., making coffee, reheating food, locking a door, providing power toanother device, playing music) based on information received via anetwork (e.g., a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet). Examplesof such IoT devices include: a smart thermostat, a smart doorbell, asmart lock (e.g., a smart door lock), a smart outlet, a smart light, asmart camera, a smart kitchen appliance (e.g., a smart oven, a smartcoffee maker, a smart microwave), and a smart speaker (including thenetwork accessible and/or voice-enabled playback devices describedabove).

While some embodiments described herein may refer to functions performedby given actors, such as “users” and/or other entities, it should beunderstood that this description is for purposes of explanation only.The claims should not be interpreted to require action by any suchexample actor unless explicitly required by the language of the claimsthemselves.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example configuration of a media playbacksystem 100 (or “MPS 100”) in which one or more embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented. Referring first to FIG. 1A, the MPS 100 asshown is associated with an example home environment having a pluralityof rooms and spaces, which may be collectively referred to as a “homeenvironment,” “smart home,” or “environment 101.” The environment 101comprises a household having several rooms, spaces, and/or playbackzones, including a master bathroom 101 a, a master bedroom 101 b(referred to herein as “Nick's Room”), a second bedroom 101 c, a familyroom or den 101 d, an office 101 e, a living room 101 f, a dining room101 g, a kitchen 101 h, and an outdoor patio 101 i. While certainembodiments and examples are described below in the context of a homeenvironment, the technologies described herein may be implemented inother types of environments. In some embodiments, for example, the MPS100 can be implemented in one or more commercial settings (e.g., arestaurant, mall, airport, hotel, a retail or other store), one or morevehicles (e.g., a sports utility vehicle, bus, car, a ship, a boat, anairplane), multiple environments (e.g., a combination of home andvehicle environments), and/or another suitable environment wheremulti-zone audio may be desirable.

Within these rooms and spaces, the MPS 100 includes one or morecomputing devices. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B together, such computingdevices can include playback devices 102 (identified individually asplayback devices 102 a-102 o), network microphone devices 103(identified individually as “NMDs” 103 a-102 i), and controller devices104 a and 104 b (collectively “controller devices 104”). Referring toFIG. 1B, the home environment may include additional and/or othercomputing devices, including local network devices, such as one or moresmart illumination devices 108 (FIG. 1B), a smart thermostat 110, and alocal computing device 105 (FIG. 1A). In embodiments described below,one or more of the various playback devices 102 may be configured asportable playback devices, while others may be configured as stationaryplayback devices. For example, the headphones 102 o (FIG. 1B) are aportable playback device, while the playback device 102 d on thebookcase may be a stationary device. As another example, the playbackdevice 102 c on the Patio may be a battery-powered device, which mayallow it to be transported to various areas within the environment 101,and outside of the environment 101, when it is not plugged in to a walloutlet or the like.

With reference still to FIG. 1B, the various playback, networkmicrophone, and controller devices 102-104 and/or other network devicesof the MPS 100 may be coupled to one another via point-to-pointconnections and/or over other connections, which may be wired and/orwireless, via a local network 111 that may include a network router 109.For example, the playback device 102 j in the Den 101 d (FIG. 1A), whichmay be designated as the “Left” device, may have a point-to-pointconnection with the playback device 102 a, which is also in the Den 101d and may be designated as the “Right” device. In a related embodiment,the Left playback device 102 j may communicate with other networkdevices, such as the playback device 102 b, which may be designated asthe “Front” device, via a point-to-point connection and/or otherconnections via the local network 111. The local network 111 may be, forexample, a network that interconnects one or more devices within alimited area (e.g., a residence, an office building, a car, anindividual's workspace, etc.). The local network 111 may include, forexample, one or more local area network (LANs) such as wireless localarea networks (WLANs) (e.g., WI-FI networks, Z-WAVE networks, etc.)and/or one or more personal area networks (PANs) such as BLUETOOTHnetworks, wireless USB networks, ZIGBEE networks, and IRDA networks.

As further shown in FIG. 1B, the MPS 100 may be coupled to one or moreremote computing devices 106 via a wide area network (“WAN”) 107. Insome embodiments, each remote computing device 106 may take the form ofone or more cloud servers. The remote computing devices 106 may beconfigured to interact with computing devices in the environment 101 invarious ways. For example, the remote computing devices 106 may beconfigured to facilitate streaming and/or controlling playback of mediacontent, such as audio, in the home environment 101.

In some implementations, the various playback devices, NMDs, and/orcontroller devices 102-104 may be communicatively coupled to at leastone remote computing device associated with a voice assistant service(“VAS”) and at least one remote computing device associated with a mediacontent service (“MCS”). For instance, in the illustrated example ofFIG. 1B, remote computing devices 106 a are associated with a VAS 190and remote computing devices 106 b are associated with an MCS 192.Although only a single VAS 190 and a single MCS 192 are shown in theexample of FIG. 1B for purposes of clarity, the MPS 100 may be coupledto multiple, different VASes and/or MCSes. In some implementations,VASes may be operated by one or more of AMAZON, GOOGLE, APPLE,MICROSOFT, NUANCE, SONOS or other voice assistant providers. In someimplementations, MCSes may be operated by one or more of SPOTIFY,PANDORA, AMAZON MUSIC, or other media content services.

As further shown in FIG. 1B, the remote computing devices 106 furtherinclude remote computing device 106 c configured to perform certainoperations, such as remotely facilitating media playback functions,managing device and system status information, directing communicationsbetween the devices of the MPS 100 and one or multiple VASes and/orMCSes, among other operations. In one example, the remote computingdevices 106 c provide cloud servers for one or more SONOS Wireless HiFiSystems.

In various implementations, one or more of the playback devices 102 maytake the form of or include an on-board (e.g., integrated) networkmicrophone device. For example, the playback devices 102 a-e include orare otherwise equipped with corresponding NMDs 103 a-e, respectively. Aplayback device that includes or is equipped with an NMD may be referredto herein interchangeably as a playback device or an NMD unlessindicated otherwise in the description. In some cases, one or more ofthe NMDs 103 may be a stand-alone device. For example, the NMDs 103 fand 103 g may be stand-alone devices. A stand-alone NMD may omitcomponents and/or functionality that is typically included in a playbackdevice, such as a speaker or related electronics. For instance, in suchcases, a stand-alone NMD may not produce audio output or may producelimited audio output (e.g., relatively low-quality audio output).

The various playback and network microphone devices 102 and 103 of theMPS 100 may each be associated with a unique name, which may be assignedto the respective devices by a user, such as during setup of one or moreof these devices. For instance, as shown in the illustrated example ofFIG. 1B, a user may assign the name “Bookcase” to playback device 102 dbecause it is physically situated on a bookcase. Similarly, the NMD 103f may be assigned the named “Island” because it is physically situatedon an island countertop in the Kitchen 101 h (FIG. 1A). Some playbackdevices may be assigned names according to a zone or room, such as theplayback devices 102 e, 102 l, 102 m, and 102 n, which are named“Bedroom,” “Dining Room,” “Living Room,” and “Office,” respectively.Further, certain playback devices may have functionally descriptivenames. For example, the playback devices 102 a and 102 b are assignedthe names “Right” and “Front,” respectively, because these two devicesare configured to provide specific audio channels during media playbackin the zone of the Den 101 d (FIG. 1A). The playback device 102 c in thePatio may be named portable because it is battery-powered and/or readilytransportable to different areas of the environment 101. Other namingconventions are possible.

As discussed above, an NMD may detect and process sound from itsenvironment, such as sound that includes background noise mixed withspeech spoken by a person in the NMD's vicinity. For example, as soundsare detected by the NMD in the environment, the NMD may process thedetected sound to determine if the sound includes speech that containsvoice input intended for the NMD and ultimately a particular VAS. Forexample, the NMD may identify whether speech includes a wake wordassociated with a particular VAS.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1B, the NMDs 103 are configured tointeract with the VAS 190 over the local network 111 and/or the router109. Interactions with the VAS 190 may be initiated, for example, whenan NMD identifies in the detected sound a potential wake word. Theidentification causes a wake-word event, which in turn causes the NMD tobegin transmitting detected-sound data to the VAS 190. In someimplementations, the various local network devices 102-105 (FIG. 1A)and/or remote computing devices 106 c of the MPS 100 may exchangevarious feedback, information, instructions, and/or related data withthe remote computing devices associated with the selected VAS. Suchexchanges may be related to or independent of transmitted messagescontaining voice inputs. In some embodiments, the remote computingdevice(s) and the media playback system 100 may exchange data viacommunication paths as described herein and/or using a metadata exchangechannel as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017-0242653published Aug. 24, 2017, and titled “Voice Control of a Media PlaybackSystem,” which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Upon receiving the stream of sound data, the VAS 190 determines if thereis voice input in the streamed data from the NMD, and if so the VAS 190will also determine an underlying intent in the voice input. The VAS 190may next transmit a response back to the MPS 100, which can includetransmitting the response directly to the NMD that caused the wake-wordevent. The response is typically based on the intent that the VAS 190determined was present in the voice input. As an example, in response tothe VAS 190 receiving a voice input with an utterance to “Play Hey Judeby The Beatles,” the VAS 190 may determine that the underlying intent ofthe voice input is to initiate playback and further determine thatintent of the voice input is to play the particular song “Hey Jude.”After these determinations, the VAS 190 may transmit a command to aparticular MCS 192 to retrieve content (i.e., the song “Hey Jude”), andthat MCS 192, in turn, provides (e.g., streams) this content directly tothe MPS 100 or indirectly via the VAS 190. In some implementations, theVAS 190 may transmit to the MPS 100 a command that causes the MPS 100itself to retrieve the content from the MCS 192.

In certain implementations, NMDs may facilitate arbitration amongst oneanother when voice input is identified in speech detected by two or moreNMDs located within proximity of one another. For example, theNMD-equipped playback device 102 d in the environment 101 (FIG. 1A) isin relatively close proximity to the NMD-equipped Living Room playbackdevice 102 m, and both devices 102 d and 102 m may at least sometimesdetect the same sound. In such cases, this may require arbitration as towhich device is ultimately responsible for providing detected-sound datato the remote VAS. Examples of arbitrating between NMDs may be found,for example, in previously referenced U.S. Patent Publication No.2017-0242653.

In certain implementations, an NMD may be assigned to, or otherwiseassociated with, a designated or default playback device that may notinclude an NMD. For example, the Island NMD 103 f in the Kitchen 101 h(FIG. 1A) may be assigned to the Dining Room playback device 102 l,which is in relatively close proximity to the Island NMD 103 f. Inpractice, an NMD may direct an assigned playback device to play audio inresponse to a remote VAS receiving a voice input from the NMD to playthe audio, which the NMD might have sent to the VAS in response to auser speaking a command to play a certain song, album, playlist, etc.Additional details regarding assigning NMDs and playback devices asdesignated or default devices may be found, for example, in previouslyreferenced U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017-0242653.

Further aspects relating to the different components of the example MPS100 and how the different components may interact to provide a user witha media experience may be found in the following sections. Whilediscussions herein may generally refer to the example MPS 100,technologies described herein are not limited to applications within,among other things, the home environment described above. For instance,the technologies described herein may be useful in other homeenvironment configurations comprising more or fewer of any of theplayback, network microphone, and/or controller devices 102-104. Forexample, the technologies herein may be utilized within an environmenthaving a single playback device 102 and/or a single NMD 103. In someexamples of such cases, the local network 111 (FIG. 1B) may beeliminated and the single playback device 102 and/or the single NMD 103may communicate directly with the remote computing devices 106 a-d. Insome embodiments, a telecommunication network (e.g., an LTE network, a5G network, etc.) may communicate with the various playback, networkmicrophone, and/or controller devices 102-104 independent of the localnetwork 111.

While specific implementations of MPS's have been described above withrespect to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there are numerous configurations of MPS's,including, but not limited to, those that do not interact with remoteservices, systems that do not include controllers, and/or any otherconfiguration as appropriate to the requirements of a given application.

a. Example Playback & Network Microphone Devices

FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram illustrating certain aspects ofone of the playback devices 102 of the MPS 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Asshown, the playback device 102 includes various components, each ofwhich is discussed in further detail below, and the various componentsof the playback device 102 may be operably coupled to one another via asystem bus, communication network, or some other connection mechanism.In the illustrated example of FIG. 2A, the playback device 102 may bereferred to as an “NMD-equipped” playback device because it includescomponents that support the functionality of an NMD, such as one of theNMDs 103 shown in FIG. 1A.

As shown, the playback device 102 includes at least one processor 212,which may be a clock-driven computing component configured to processinput data according to instructions stored in memory 213. The memory213 may be a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable mediumconfigured to store instructions that are executable by the processor212. For example, the memory 213 may be data storage that can be loadedwith software code 214 that is executable by the processor 212 toachieve certain functions.

In one example, these functions may involve the playback device 102retrieving audio data from an audio source, which may be anotherplayback device. In another example, the functions may involve theplayback device 102 sending audio data, detected-sound data (e.g.,corresponding to a voice input), and/or other information to anotherdevice on a network via at least one network interface 224. In yetanother example, the functions may involve the playback device 102causing one or more other playback devices to synchronously playbackaudio with the playback device 102. In yet a further example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 102 facilitating being pairedor otherwise bonded with one or more other playback devices to create amulti-channel audio environment. Numerous other example functions arepossible, some of which are discussed below.

As just mentioned, certain functions may involve the playback device 102synchronizing playback of audio content with one or more other playbackdevices. During synchronous playback, a listener may not perceivetime-delay differences between playback of the audio content by thesynchronized playback devices. U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395 filed on Apr. 4,2004, and titled “System and method for synchronizing operations among aplurality of independently clocked digital data processing devices,”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, provides inmore detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

To facilitate audio playback, the playback device 102 includes audioprocessing components 216 that are generally configured to process audioprior to the playback device 102 rendering the audio. In this respect,the audio processing components 216 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (“DAC”), one or more audio preprocessingcomponents, one or more audio enhancement components, one or moredigital signal processors (“DSPs”), and so on. In some implementations,one or more of the audio processing components 216 may be a subcomponentof the processor 212. In operation, the audio processing components 216receive analog and/or digital audio and process and/or otherwiseintentionally alter the audio to produce audio signals for playback.

The produced audio signals may then be provided to one or more audioamplifiers 217 for amplification and playback through one or morespeakers 218 operably coupled to the amplifiers 217. The audioamplifiers 217 may include components configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 218.

Each of the speakers 218 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a“driver”) or the speakers 218 may include a complete speaker systeminvolving an enclosure with one or more drivers. A particular driver ofa speaker 218 may include, for example, a subwoofer (e.g., for lowfrequencies), a mid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and/ora tweeter (e.g., for high frequencies). In some cases, a transducer maybe driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of the audioamplifiers 217. In some implementations, a playback device may notinclude the speakers 218, but instead may include a speaker interfacefor connecting the playback device to external speakers. In certainembodiments, a playback device may include neither the speakers 218 northe audio amplifiers 217, but instead may include an audio interface(not shown) for connecting the playback device to an external audioamplifier or audio-visual receiver.

In addition to producing audio signals for playback by the playbackdevice 102, the audio processing components 216 may be configured toprocess audio to be sent to one or more other playback devices, via thenetwork interface 224, for playback. In example scenarios, audio contentto be processed and/or played back by the playback device 102 may bereceived from an external source, such as via an audio line-in interface(e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-in connection) of theplayback device 102 (not shown) or via the network interface 224, asdescribed below.

As shown, the at least one network interface 224, may take the form ofone or more wireless interfaces 225 and/or one or more wired interfaces226. A wireless interface may provide network interface functions forthe playback device 102 to wirelessly communicate with other devices(e.g., other playback device(s), NMD(s), and/or controller device(s)) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad,802.11af, 802.11ah, 802.11ai, 802.11aj, 802.11aq, 802.11ax, 802.11ay,802.15, BLUETOOTH, 4G mobile communication standard, 5G mobilecommunication standard, and so on). A wired interface may providenetwork interface functions for the playback device 102 to communicateover a wired connection with other devices in accordance with acommunication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the network interface224 shown in FIG. 2A includes both wired and wireless interfaces, theplayback device 102 may in some implementations include only wirelessinterface(s) or only wired interface(s).

In general, the network interface 224 facilitates data flow between theplayback device 102 and one or more other devices on a data network. Forinstance, the playback device 102 may be configured to receive audiocontent over the data network from one or more other playback devices,network devices within a LAN, and/or audio content sources over a WAN,such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content and othersignals transmitted and received by the playback device 102 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data comprising an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 224 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device102 is properly received and processed by the playback device 102.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the playback device 102 also includes voiceprocessing components 220 that are operably coupled to one or moremicrophones 222. The microphones 222 are configured to detect sound(i.e., acoustic waves) in the environment of the playback device 102,which is then provided to the voice processing components 220. Morespecifically, each microphone 222 is configured to detect sound andconvert the sound into a digital or analog signal representative of thedetected sound, which can then cause the voice processing component 220to perform various functions based on the detected sound, as describedin greater detail below. In one implementation, the microphones 222 arearranged as an array of microphones (e.g., an array of six microphones).In some implementations, the playback device 102 includes more than sixmicrophones (e.g., eight microphones or twelve microphones) or fewerthan six microphones (e.g., four microphones, two microphones, or asingle microphones).

In operation, the voice-processing components 220 are generallyconfigured to detect and process sound received via the microphones 222,identify potential voice input in the detected sound, and extractdetected-sound data to enable a VAS, such as the VAS 190 (FIG. 1B), toprocess voice input identified in the detected-sound data. The voiceprocessing components 220 may include one or more analog-to-digitalconverters, an acoustic echo canceller (“AEC”), a spatial processor(e.g., one or more multi-channel Wiener filters, one or more otherfilters, and/or one or more beam former components), one or more buffers(e.g., one or more circular buffers), one or more wake-word engines, oneor more voice extractors, and/or one or more speech processingcomponents (e.g., components configured to recognize a voice of aparticular user or a particular set of users associated with ahousehold), among other example voice processing components. In exampleimplementations, the voice processing components 220 may include orotherwise take the form of one or more DSPs or one or more modules of aDSP. In this respect, certain voice processing components 220 may beconfigured with particular parameters (e.g., gain and/or spectralparameters) that may be modified or otherwise tuned to achieveparticular functions. In some implementations, one or more of the voiceprocessing components 220 may be a subcomponent of the processor 212.

In some implementations, the voice-processing components 220 may detectand store a user's voice profile, which may be associated with a useraccount of the MPS 100. For example, voice profiles may be stored asand/or compared to variables stored in a set of command information ordata table. The voice profile may include aspects of the tone orfrequency of a user's voice and/or other unique aspects of the user'svoice, such as those described in previously referenced U.S. PatentPublication No. 2017/0242653.

As further shown in FIG. 2A, the playback device 102 also includes powercomponents 227. The power components 227 may include at least anexternal power source interface 228, which may be coupled to a powersource (not shown) via a power cable or the like that physicallyconnects the playback device 102 to an electrical outlet or some otherexternal power source. Other power components may include, for example,transformers, converters, and like components configured to formatelectrical power.

In some implementations, the power components 227 of the playback device102 may additionally include an internal power source 229 (e.g., one ormore batteries) configured to power the playback device 102 without aphysical connection to an external power source. When equipped with theinternal power source 229, the playback device 102 may operateindependent of an external power source. In some such implementations,the external power source interface 228 may be configured to facilitatecharging the internal power source 229. As discussed before, a playbackdevice comprising an internal power source may be referred to herein asa “portable playback device.” Those portable playback devices that weighno more than fifty ounces (e.g., between three ounces and fifty ounces,between five ounces and fifty ounces, between ten ounces and fiftyounces, between ten ounces and twenty-five ounces, etc.) may be referredto herein as an “ultra-portable playback device.” Those playback devicesthat operate using an external power source instead of an internal powersource may be referred to herein as a “stationary playback device,”although such a device may in fact be moved around a home or otherenvironment.

The playback device 102 may further include a user interface 240 thatmay facilitate user interactions independent of or in conjunction withuser interactions facilitated by one or more of the controller devices104. In various embodiments, the user interface 240 includes one or morephysical buttons and/or supports graphical interfaces provided on touchsensitive screen(s) and/or surface(s), among other possibilities, for auser to directly provide input. The user interface 240 may furtherinclude one or more of lights (e.g., LEDs) and the speakers to providevisual and/or audio feedback to a user.

As an illustrative example, FIG. 2B shows an example housing 230 of theplayback device 102 that includes a user interface in the form of acontrol area 232 at a top portion 234 of the housing 230. The controlarea 232 includes buttons 236 a-c for controlling audio playback, volumelevel, and other functions. The control area 232 also includes a button236 d for toggling the microphones 222 to either an on state or an offstate.

As further shown in FIG. 2B, the control area 232 is at least partiallysurrounded by apertures formed in the top portion 234 of the housing 230through which the microphones 222 (not visible in FIG. 2B) receive thesound in the environment of the playback device 102. The microphones 222may be arranged in various positions along and/or within the top portion234 or other areas of the housing 230 so as to detect sound from one ormore directions relative to the playback device 102.

As mentioned above, the playback device 102 may be constructed as aportable playback device, such as an ultra-portable playback device,that comprises an internal power source. FIG. 2C shows an examplehousing 240 for such a portable playback device. As shown, the housing240 of the portable playback device includes a user interface in theform of a control area 242 at a top portion 244 of the housing 240. Thecontrol area 242 may include a capacitive touch sensor for controllingaudio playback, volume level, and other functions. The housing 240 ofthe portable playback device may be configured to engage with a dock 246that is connected to an external power source via cable 248. The dock246 may be configured to provide power to the portable playback deviceto recharge an internal battery. In some embodiments, the dock 246 maycomprise a set of one or more conductive contacts (not shown) positionedon the top of the dock 246 that engage with conductive contacts on thebottom of the housing 240 (not shown). In other embodiments, the dock246 may provide power from the cable 248 to the portable playback devicewithout the use of conductive contacts. For example, the dock 246 maywirelessly charge the portable playback device via one or more inductivecoils integrated into each of the dock 246 and the portable playbackdevice.

In some embodiments, the playback device 102 may take the form of awired and/or wireless headphone (e.g., an over-ear headphone, an on-earheadphone, or an in-ear headphone). For instance, FIG. 2D shows anexample housing 250 for such an implementation of the playback device102. As shown, the housing 250 includes a headband 252 that couples afirst earpiece 254 a to a second earpiece 254 b. Each of the earpieces254 a and 254 b may house any portion of the electronic components inthe playback device, such as one or more speakers. Further, one or moreof the earpieces 254 a and 254 b may include a control area 258 forcontrolling audio playback, volume level, and other functions. Thecontrol area 258 may comprise any combination of the following: acapacitive touch sensor, a button, a switch, and a dial. As shown inFIG. 2D, the housing 250 may further include ear cushions 256 a and 256b that are coupled to earpieces 254 a and 254 b, respectively. The earcushions 256 a and 256 b may provide a soft barrier between the head ofa user and the earpieces 254 a and 254 b, respectively, to improve usercomfort and/or provide acoustic isolation from the ambient (e.g.,passive noise reduction (PNR)). In some implementations, the wiredand/or wireless headphones may be ultra-portable playback devices thatare powered by an internal energy source and weigh less than fiftyounces.

It should be appreciated that the playback device 102 may take the formof other wearable devices separate and apart from a headphone. Wearabledevices may include those devices configured to be worn about a portionof a subject (e.g., a head, a neck, a torso, an arm, a wrist, a finger,a leg, an ankle, etc.). For example, the playback device 102 may takethe form of a pair of glasses including a frame front (e.g., configuredto hold one or more lenses), a first temple rotatably coupled to theframe front, and a second temple rotatable coupled to the frame front.In this example, the pair of glasses may comprise one or moretransducers integrated into at least one of the first and second templesand configured to project sound towards an ear of the subject.

While specific implementations of playback and network microphonedevices have been described above with respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and2D, there are numerous configurations of devices, including, but notlimited to, those having no UI, microphones in different locations,multiple microphone arrays positioned in different arrangements, and/orany other configuration as appropriate to the requirements of a givenapplication. For example, UIs and/or microphone arrays can beimplemented in other playback devices and/or computing devices ratherthan those described herein. Further, although a specific example ofplayback device 102 is described with reference to MPS 100, one skilledin the art will recognize that playback devices as described herein canbe used in a variety of different environments, including (but notlimited to) environments with more and/or fewer elements, withoutdeparting from this invention. Likewise, MPS's as described herein canbe used with various different playback devices.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices that may implement certain of theembodiments disclosed herein, including a “SONOS ONE,” “PLAY:1,”“PLAY:3,” “PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “AMP,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “PLAYBASE,” “BEAM,”“CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any other past, present, and/or future playbackdevices may additionally or alternatively be used to implement theplayback devices of example embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally,it should be understood that a playback device is not limited to theexamples illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, or 2D or to the SONOS productofferings. For example, a playback device may be integral to anotherdevice or component such as a television, a lighting fixture, or someother device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Device Configurations

FIGS. 3A-3E show example configurations of playback devices. Referringfirst to FIG. 3A, in some example instances, a single playback devicemay belong to a zone. For example, the playback device 102 c(FIG. 1A) onthe Patio may belong to Zone A. In some implementations described below,multiple playback devices may be “bonded” to form a “bonded pair,” whichtogether form a single zone. For example, the playback device 102 f(FIG. 1A) named “Bed 1” in FIG. 3A may be bonded to the playback device102 g (FIG. 1A) named “Bed 2” in FIG. 3A to form Zone B. Bonded playbackdevices may have different playback responsibilities (e.g., channelresponsibilities). In another implementation described below, multipleplayback devices may be merged to form a single zone. For example, theplayback device 102 d named “Bookcase” may be merged with the playbackdevice 102 m named “Living Room” to form a single Zone C. The mergedplayback devices 102 d and 102 m may not be specifically assigneddifferent playback responsibilities. That is, the merged playbackdevices 102 d and 102 m may, aside from playing audio content insynchrony, each play audio content as they would if they were notmerged.

For purposes of control, each zone in the MPS 100 may be represented asa single user interface (“UI”) entity. For example, as displayed by thecontroller devices 104, Zone A may be provided as a single entity named“Portable,” Zone B may be provided as a single entity named “Stereo,”and Zone C may be provided as a single entity named “Living Room.” Invarious embodiments, a zone may take on the name of one of the playbackdevices belonging to the zone. For example, Zone C may take on the nameof the Living Room device 102 m (as shown). In another example, Zone Cmay instead take on the name of the Bookcase device 102 d. In a furtherexample, Zone C may take on a name that is some combination of theBookcase device 102 d and Living Room device 102 m. The name that ischosen may be selected by a user via inputs at a controller device 104.In some embodiments, a zone may be given a name that is different thanthe device(s) belonging to the zone. For example, Zone B in FIG. 3A isnamed “Stereo” but none of the devices in Zone B have this name. In oneaspect, Zone B is a single UI entity representing a single device named“Stereo,” composed of constituent devices “Bed 1” and “Bed 2.” In oneimplementation, the Bed 1 device may be playback device 102 f in themaster bedroom 101 h (FIG. 1A) and the Bed 2 device may be the playbackdevice 102 g also in the master bedroom 101 h (FIG. 1A).

As noted above, playback devices that are bonded may have differentplayback responsibilities, such as playback responsibilities for certainaudio channels. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the Bed 1 and Bed 2devices 102 f and 102 g may be bonded so as to produce or enhance astereo effect of audio content. In this example, the Bed 1 playbackdevice 102 f may be configured to play a left channel audio component,while the Bed 2 playback device 102 g may be configured to play a rightchannel audio component. In some implementations, such stereo bondingmay be referred to as “pairing.”

Additionally, playback devices that are configured to be bonded may haveadditional and/or different respective speaker drivers. As shown in FIG.3C, the playback device 102 b named “Front” may be bonded with theplayback device 102 k named “SUB.” The Front device 102 b may render arange of mid to high frequencies, and the SUB device 102 k may renderlow frequencies as, for example, a subwoofer. When unbonded, the Frontdevice 102 b may be configured to render a full range of frequencies. Asanother example, FIG. 3D shows the Front and SUB devices 102 b and 102 kfurther bonded with Right and Left playback devices 102 a and 102 j,respectively. In some implementations, the Right and Left devices 102 aand 102 j may form surround or “satellite” channels of a home theatersystem. The bonded playback devices 102 a, 102 b, 102 j, and 102 k mayform a single Zone D (FIG. 3A).

In some implementations, playback devices may also be “merged.” Incontrast to certain bonded playback devices, playback devices that aremerged may not have assigned playback responsibilities, but may eachrender the full range of audio content that each respective playbackdevice is capable of. Nevertheless, merged devices may be represented asa single UI entity (i.e., a zone, as discussed above). For instance,FIG. 3E shows the playback devices 102 d and 102 m in the Living Roommerged, which would result in these devices being represented by thesingle UI entity of Zone C. In one embodiment, the playback devices 102d and 102 m may playback audio in synchrony, during which each outputsthe full range of audio content that each respective playback device 102d and 102 m is capable of rendering.

In some embodiments, a stand-alone NMD may be in a zone by itself. Forexample, the NMD 103 h from FIG. 1A is named “Closet” and forms Zone Iin FIG. 3A. An NMD may also be bonded or merged with another device soas to form a zone. For example, the NMD device 103 f named “Island” maybe bonded with the playback device 102i Kitchen, which together formZone F, which is also named “Kitchen.” Additional details regardingassigning NMDs and playback devices as designated or default devices maybe found, for example, in previously referenced U.S. Patent PublicationNo. 2017-0242653. In some embodiments, a stand-alone NMD may not beassigned to a zone.

Zones of individual, bonded, and/or merged devices may be arranged toform a set of playback devices that playback audio in synchrony. Such aset of playback devices may be referred to as a “group,” “zone group,”“synchrony group,” or “playback group.” In response to inputs providedvia a controller device 104, playback devices may be dynamically groupedand ungrouped to form new or different groups that synchronously playback audio content. For example, referring to FIG. 3A, Zone A may begrouped with Zone B to form a zone group that includes the playbackdevices of the two zones. As another example, Zone A may be grouped withone or more other Zones C-I. The Zones A-I may be grouped and ungroupedin numerous ways. For example, three, four, five, or more (e.g., all) ofthe Zones A-I may be grouped. When grouped, the zones of individualand/or bonded playback devices may play back audio in synchrony with oneanother, as described in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.Grouped and bonded devices are example types of associations betweenportable and stationary playback devices that may be caused in responseto a trigger event, as discussed above and described in greater detailbelow.

In various implementations, the zones in an environment may be assigneda particular name, which may be the default name of a zone within a zonegroup or a combination of the names of the zones within a zone group,such as “Dining Room +Kitchen,” as shown in FIG. 3A. In someembodiments, a zone group may be given a unique name selected by a user,such as “Nick's Room,” as also shown in FIG. 3A. The name “Nick's Room”may be a name chosen by a user over a prior name for the zone group,such as the room name “Master Bedroom.”

Referring back to FIG. 2A, certain data may be stored in the memory 213as one or more state variables that are periodically updated and used todescribe the state of a playback zone, the playback device(s), and/or azone group associated therewith. The memory 213 may also include thedata associated with the state of the other devices of the mediaplayback system 100, which may be shared from time to time among thedevices so that one or more of the devices have the most recent dataassociated with the system.

In some embodiments, the memory 213 of the playback device 102 may storeinstances of various variable types associated with the states.Variables instances may be stored with identifiers (e.g., tags)corresponding to type. For example, certain identifiers may be a firsttype “a1” to identify playback device(s) of a zone, a second type “b1”to identify playback device(s) that may be bonded in the zone, and athird type “c1” to identify a zone group to which the zone may belong.As a related example, in FIG. 1A, identifiers associated with the Patiomay indicate that the Patio is the only playback device of a particularzone and not in a zone group. Identifiers associated with the LivingRoom may indicate that the Living Room is not grouped with other zonesbut includes bonded playback devices 102 a, 102 b, 102 j, and 102 k.Identifiers associated with the Dining Room may indicate that the DiningRoom is part of Dining Room+Kitchen group and that devices 103 f and 102i are bonded. Identifiers associated with the Kitchen may indicate thesame or similar information by virtue of the Kitchen being part of theDining Room+Kitchen zone group. Other example zone variables andidentifiers are described below.

In yet another example, the MPS 100 may include variables or identifiersrepresenting other associations of zones and zone groups, such asidentifiers associated with Areas, as shown in FIG. 3A. An Area mayinvolve a cluster of zone groups and/or zones not within a zone group.For instance, FIG. 3A shows a first area named “First Area” and a secondarea named “Second Area.” The First Area includes zones and zone groupsof the Patio, Den, Dining Room, Kitchen, and Bathroom. The Second Areaincludes zones and zone groups of the Bathroom, Nick's Room, Bedroom,and Living Room. In one aspect, an Area may be used to invoke a clusterof zone groups and/or zones that share one or more zones and/or zonegroups of another cluster. In this respect, such an Area differs from azone group, which does not share a zone with another zone group. Furtherexamples of techniques for implementing Areas may be found, for example,in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018-0107446 published Apr. 19, 2018 andtitled “Room Association Based on Name,” and U.S. Pat. No. 8,483,853filed Sep. 11, 2007, and titled “Controlling and manipulating groupingsin a multi-zone media system,” each of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. In some embodiments, the MPS 100 may notimplement Areas, in which case the system may not store variablesassociated with Areas.

The memory 213 may be further configured to store other data. Such datamay pertain to audio sources accessible by the playback device 102 or aplayback queue that the playback device (or some other playbackdevice(s)) may be associated with. In embodiments described below, thememory 213 is configured to store a set of command data for selecting aparticular VAS when processing voice inputs.

During operation, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG.1A may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the usermay be grilling in the Patio zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 c, while another user may be preparingfood in the Kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 102 i. In another example, a playback zone mayplay the same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the Office zone where the playback device102 n is playing the same hip-hop music that is being playing byplayback device 102 c in the Patio zone. In such a case, playbackdevices 102 c and 102 n may be playing the hip-hop in synchrony suchthat the user may seamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly)enjoy the audio content that is being played out-loud while movingbetween different playback zones. Synchronization among playback zonesmay be achieved in a manner similar to that of synchronization amongplayback devices, as described in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No.8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the MPS 100 may bedynamically modified. As such, the MPS 100 may support numerousconfigurations. For example, if a user physically moves one or moreplayback devices to or from a zone, the MPS 100 may be reconfigured toaccommodate the change(s). For instance, if the user physically movesthe playback device 102 c from the Patio zone to the Office zone, theOffice zone may now include both the playback devices 102 c and 102 n.In some cases, the user may pair or group the moved playback device 102c with the Office zone and/or rename the players in the Office zoneusing, for example, one of the controller devices 104 and/or voiceinput. As another example, if one or more playback devices 102 are movedto a particular space in the home environment that is not already aplayback zone, the moved playback device(s) may be renamed or associatedwith a playback zone for the particular space.

Further, different playback zones of the MPS 100 may be dynamicallycombined into zone groups or split up into individual playback zones.For example, the Dining Room zone and the Kitchen zone may be combinedinto a zone group for a dinner party such that playback devices 102 iand 102 l may render audio content in synchrony. As another example,bonded playback devices in the Den zone may be split into (i) atelevision zone and (ii) a separate listening zone. The television zonemay include the Front playback device 102 b. The listening zone mayinclude the Right, Left, and SUB playback devices 102 a, 102 j, and 102k, which may be grouped, paired, or merged, as described above.Splitting the Den zone in such a manner may allow one user to listen tomusic in the listening zone in one area of the living room space, andanother user to watch the television in another area of the living roomspace. In a related example, a user may utilize either of the NMD 103 aor 103 b (FIG. 1B) to control the Den zone before it is separated intothe television zone and the listening zone. Once separated, thelistening zone may be controlled, for example, by a user in the vicinityof the NMD 103 a, and the television zone may be controlled, forexample, by a user in the vicinity of the NMD 103 b. As described above,however, any of the NMDs 103 may be configured to control the variousplayback and other devices of the MPS 100.

c. Example Controller Devices

FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram illustrating certain aspects of aselected one of the controller devices 104 of the MPS 100 of FIG. 1A.Controller devices in accordance with several embodiments of theinvention can be used in various systems, such as (but not limited to)an MPS as described in FIG. 1A. Such controller devices may also bereferred to herein as a “control device” or “controller.” The controllerdevice shown in FIG. 4A may include components that are generallysimilar to certain components of the network devices described above,such as a processor 412, memory 413 storing program software 414, atleast one network interface 424, and one or more microphones 422. In oneexample, a controller device may be a dedicated controller for the MPS100. In another example, a controller device may be a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software may beinstalled, such as for example, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smartphone, tablet, or network device (e.g., a networked computer such as aPC or Mac™)

The memory 413 of the controller device 104 may be configured to storecontroller application software and other data associated with the MPS100 and/or a user of the system 100. The memory 413 may be loaded withinstructions in software 414 that are executable by the processor 412 toachieve certain functions, such as facilitating user access, control,and/or configuration of the MPS 100. The controller device 104 may beconfigured to communicate with other network devices via the networkinterface 424, which may take the form of a wireless interface, asdescribed above.

In one example, system information (e.g., such as a state variable) maybe communicated between the controller device 104 and other devices viathe network interface 424. For instance, the controller device 104 mayreceive playback zone and zone group configurations in the MPS 100 froma playback device, an NMD, or another network device. Likewise, thecontroller device 104 may transmit such system information to a playbackdevice or another network device via the network interface 424. In somecases, the other network device may be another controller device.

The controller device 104 may also communicate playback device controlcommands, such as volume control and audio playback control, to aplayback device via the network interface 424. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the MPS 100 may also be performed by a userusing the controller device 104. The configuration changes may includeadding/removing one or more playback devices to/from a zone,adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forming a bondedor merged player, separating one or more playback devices from a bondedor merged player, among others.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the controller device 104 may also include a userinterface 440 that is generally configured to facilitate user access andcontrol of the MPS 100. The user interface 440 may include atouch-screen display or other physical interface configured to providevarious graphical controller interfaces, such as the controllerinterfaces 440 a and 440 b shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C. Referring to FIGS.4B and 4C together, the controller interfaces 440 a and 440 b include aplayback control region 442, a playback zone region 443, a playbackstatus region 444, a playback queue region 446, and a sources region448. The user interface as shown is just one example of an interfacethat may be provided on a network device, such as the controller deviceshown in FIG. 4A, and accessed by users to control a media playbacksystem, such as the MPS 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 442 (FIG. 4B) may include selectable icons(e.g., by way of touch or by using a cursor) that, when selected, causeplayback devices in a selected playback zone or zone group to play orpause, fast forward, rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exitshuffle mode, enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode, etc.The playback control region 442 may also include selectable icons that,when selected, modify equalization settings and/or playback volume,among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 443 (FIG. 4C) may include representations ofplayback zones within the MPS 100. The playback zones regions 443 mayalso include a representation of zone groups, such as the Dining Room+Kitchen zone group, as shown. In some embodiments, the graphicalrepresentations of playback zones may be selectable to bring upadditional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zones inthe MPS 100, such as a creation of bonded zones, creation of zonegroups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zone groups, amongother possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the MPS 100 tobe grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped, playback devices inthe zones that have been grouped with the particular zone will beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony with the playbackdevice(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” icon may beprovided within a graphical representation of a zone group. In thiscase, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options to deselectone or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zone group.Other interactions and implementations for grouping and ungrouping zonesvia a user interface are also possible. The representations of playbackzones in the playback zone region 443 (FIG. 4C) may be dynamicallyupdated as playback zone or zone group configurations are modified.

The playback status region 444 (FIG. 4B) may include graphicalrepresentations of audio content that is presently being played,previously played, or scheduled to play next in the selected playbackzone or zone group. The selected playback zone or zone group may bevisually distinguished on a controller interface, such as within theplayback zone region 443 and/or the playback status region 444. Thegraphical representations may include track title, artist name, albumname, album year, track length, and/or other relevant information thatmay be useful for the user to know when controlling the MPS 100 via acontroller interface.

The playback queue region 446 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue comprising informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL), or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, which may then be played back by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streamed audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue or may beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue or may be associated with a new playback queuethat is empty or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

With reference still to FIGS. 4B and 4C, the graphical representationsof audio content in the playback queue region 446 (FIG. 4B) may includetrack titles, artist names, track lengths, and/or other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device. Playback of such a playbackqueue may involve one or more playback devices playing back media itemsof the queue, perhaps in sequential or random order.

The sources region 448 may include graphical representations ofselectable audio content sources and/or selectable voice assistantsassociated with a corresponding VAS. The VASes may be selectivelyassigned. In some examples, multiple VASes, such as AMAZON's Alexa,MICROSOFT's Cortana, etc., may be invokable by the same NMD. In someembodiments, a user may assign a VAS exclusively to one or more NMDs.For example, a user may assign a first VAS to one or both of the NMDs102 a and 102 b in the Living Room shown in FIG. 1A, and a second VAS tothe NMD 103 f in the Kitchen. Other examples are possible.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

The audio sources in the sources region 448 may be audio content sourcesfrom which audio content may be retrieved and played by the selectedplayback zone or zone group. One or more playback devices in a zone orzone group may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content(e.g., according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content)from a variety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., via a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices. Asdescribed in greater detail below, in some embodiments, audio contentmay be provided by one or more media content services.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the MPS 100 of FIG.1, local music libraries on one or more network devices (e.g., acontroller device, a network-enabled personal computer, or anetworked-attached storage (“NAS”)), streaming audio services providingaudio content via the Internet (e.g., cloud-based music services), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network device, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be added or removed froma media playback system such as the MPS 100 of FIG. 1A. In one example,an indexing of audio items may be performed whenever one or more audiocontent sources are added, removed, or updated. Indexing of audio itemsmay involve scanning for identifiable audio items in allfolders/directories shared over a network accessible by playback devicesin the media playback system and generating or updating an audio contentdatabase comprising metadata (e.g., title, artist, album, track length,among others) and other associated information, such as a URI or URL foreach identifiable audio item found. Other examples for managing andmaintaining audio content sources may also be possible.

III. Example Distributed Processing Architectures

A distributed processor architecture may be employed in devices, such asplayback devices or other IoT devices, to significantly reduce powerconsumption. For example, a high-power processor that executes a GPOSmay be employed, in at least some respects, as a co-processor to a lesspowerful (and less power hungry) processor executing an SPOS. As aresult, the high-power processor can be completely powered off insituations where the functionality of the high-power processor is notneeded without interrupting other operations, such as reading one ormore capacitive touch sensors to detect audio playback commands,obtaining audio content via BLUETOOTH, and/or playing back the audiocontent. An example of a device employing such a distributed processingarchitecture is shown in FIG. 5 by device 500. The device 500 may beimplemented as any of a variety of devices including any of the devicesdescribed herein (e.g., playback devices, NMDs, IoT devices, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 5, the device 500 comprises network interfacecomponent(s) 502 to facilitate communication with external devices. Thenetwork interface component(s) 502 include a first network circuit 520to facilitate communication with a first computing device 510 over afirst communication link 512 and may further include a second networkcircuit 522 to facilitate communication with a second computing device516 over a second communication link 518. The device 500 furtherincludes processing components 504 that are coupled to the networkinterface component(s) 502. The processing components 504 include firstprocessor(s) 524 that execute first operating system(s) 528 and secondprocessor(s) 526 that execute second operating system(s) 530. Theprocessing components 504 may execute instructions stored in datastorage 506 that may comprise a first memory 532 and a second memory534. The processing components 504 may communicate with (and/or control)electronic component(s) 508 directly or via intermediary component(s)514.

The network interface component(s) 502 may facilitate wirelesscommunication to one or more external devices shown as the firstcomputing device 510 and the second computing device 516. The networkinterface component(s) 502 may comprise the first network circuit 520that enables communication over the first communication link 512 using afirst communication protocol and a second network circuit 522 thatenables communication over the second communication link 518 using asecond, different communication protocol. For example, the first networkcircuit 520 may enable communication using an IEEE 802 protocol and/or acellular network protocol while the second network circuit 522 mayenable communication using another protocol, such as a BLUETOOTHprotocol. Thus, the network interface component(s) 502 may enablecommunication (e.g., simultaneous communication) with multiple computingdevices using different communication protocols.

In some embodiments, the first network circuit 520 may be implemented asa WI-FI circuit (e.g., comprising a WI-FI transceiver) that isconfigured to communicate with the first computing device 510 over aWI-FI network. In these embodiments, the first computing device 510 maybe, for example, a network router and/or a computing device that isaccessible over the Internet (e.g., a cloud server). Additionally (oralternatively), the second network circuit 522 may be implemented as aBLUETOOTH circuit (e.g., comprising a BLUETOOTH transceiver) that isconfigured to communicate with the second computing device 516 using aBLUETOOTH connection. In such instances, the second computing device 516may be, for example, a portable computing device such as a smartphone ora tablet.

The network circuits 520 and 522 may comprise one or more networkprocessors that execute instructions stored in a memory that cause thenetwork circuits 520 and 522 to perform various operations. For example,the network circuits 520 and 522 may each comprise a read-only memory(ROM) that stores firmware that may be executed by the one or morenetwork processors. Examples of ROM include programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), andelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM).Additionally (or alternatively), the network circuits 520 and 522 maycomprise a read-write memory (e.g., a memory that is both readable andwritable) that stores instructions that may be executed by the one ormore network processors.

It should be appreciated that the network interface component(s) 502 maybe implemented as one or more circuit dies. For example, the networkinterface component(s) 502 may be implemented as a single circuit die.In another example, the first network circuit 510 may be implemented asa first circuit die and the second network circuit 522 may beimplemented as a second circuit die. Thus, the network interfacecomponent(s) 502 may be implemented in any of a variety of ways.

The processing components 504 may be coupled to the network interfacecomponent(s) 502 and configured to control one or more aspects of theoperation of the device 500. The processing components 504 may comprisefirst processor(s) 524 and second processor(s) 526. The firstprocessor(s) 524 may have a different construction than the secondprocessor(s) 526. Additionally, the first processor(s) 524 may executefirst operating system(s) 528 while the second processors 526 mayexecute second operating system(s) 530 that are different from the firstoperating system(s) 528.

In some embodiments, the first processor(s) 501 may not be configured tosupport virtualized memory and the first operating system(s) 528 maycomprise an operating system that does not require support forvirtualized memory, such as a RTOS or other SPOS. For example, the firstprocessor(s) 524 may not comprise a memory management unit (MMU)configured to translate virtual memory addresses to physical addresses.In these embodiments, the first processor(s) 524 may comprise ageneral-purpose processor (GPP), such as a reduced instruction setcomputer (RISC) processor, and/or a single-purpose processor (SPP), suchas a DSP or a neural processing unit (NPU). For example, the firstprocessor(s) 524 may comprise a RISC processor and a DSP. Example GPPsthat do not support virtualized memory include ARM CORTEX-M seriesprocessors (e.g., CORTEX-M0, CORTEX-M0+, CORTEX-M1, CORTEX-M3,CORTEX-M4, CORTEX-M7, CORTEX-M23, CORTEX-M33, and CORTEX-M35Pprocessors). Example SPPs that do not support virtualized memory includeTENSILICA HIFI DSPs (e.g., HIFI MINI, HIFI 3, HIFI 3z, HIFI 4, and HIFI5 DSPs).

In some embodiments, the second processor(s) 526 may be configured tosupport virtualized memory and the second operating system(s) 530 maycomprise an operating system that at least partially employs virtualizedmemory. For example, the second processor(s) 526 may comprise a memorymanagement unit (MMU) configured to translate virtual memory addressesto physical addresses. In these embodiments, the second processor(s) 526may comprise a GPP. Example GPPs that support virtualized memory includeARM CORTEX-A series processors (e.g., CORTEX-A5, CORTEX-A7, CORTEX-A8,CORTEX-A9, CORTEX-A12, CORTEX-A15, CORTEX-A17, CORTEX-A32, CORTEX-A35,CORTEX-A53, CORTEX-A57, CORTEX-A72, CORTEX-A73, CORTEX-A75, CORTEX-A76processors).

One or more of the processors in the plurality of processing components504 (e.g., first processor(s) 524 and/or second processor(s) 526) mayhave a plurality of power states including an awake state and one ormore low-power states (e.g., one or more sleep states such as a lightsleep state and a deep sleep state). In an awake state, the processormay be capable of executing instructions, power may be maintained to theprocessor caches (e.g., L1, L2, and/or L3 caches), and the clocks may beon (e.g., core clock, bus clock, etc.). In light sleep states, the powerconsumption may be reduced relative to the awake states by turning offone or more clocks while maintaining power to the processor caches.Thus, light sleep states may offer some power consumption reductionrelative to awake states while still being able to transition to awakestates expeditiously. In deep sleep states, the power consumption may bereduced relative to the light sleep states by both turning off one ormore clocks and powering down one or more processor caches. Deep sleepstates may include those states where the processor is entirely poweredoff. Thus, deep sleep states may offer an additional power consumptionreduction relative to light sleep states and require additional time totransition to awake states relative to light sleep states.

Given that the first processor(s) 524 may have a different constructionthat the second processor(s) 526, the first processor(s) 524 may have adifferent peak power consumption (e.g., power consumption under fullload) than the second processor(s) 526. For example, the firstprocessor(s) 524 may have a lower peak power consumption than the secondprocessor(s) 526. The difference in power consumption may arise at leastin part from the increased complexity of the second processor(s) 526 toprovide, for example, virtual memory support. Thus, in some embodiments,operations are distributed between the first processor(s) 524 and thesecond processor(s) 526 such that only those operations that cannot bepractically performed by the first processor(s) 524 are performed by thesecond processor(s) 526. In these embodiments, the first processor(s)524 may cause the second processor(s) 526 to remain in a low-power stateuntil a particular operation needs to be performed that requires thesecond processor(s) 526. As a result, the second processor(s) 526 may,in at least some respects, function as one or more co-processors to thefirst processor(s) 524.

The data storage 506 may comprise, for example, one or more tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable media configured to store instructionsthat are executable by the processing components 504. The data storage506 may comprise any combination of volatile memory (e.g., a memory thatonly maintains data while powered) and non-volatile memory (e.g., amemory that maintains data even after being power cycled). Examples ofvolatile memory include random-access memory (RAM) such as staticrandom-access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random-access memory (DRAM).Examples of non-volatile memory include flash memory, such as NOR flashmemory and NAND flash memory, disk drives, and magnetic tape.

The data storage 506 may comprise a first memory 532 and a second memory534. In some embodiments, the first memory 532 may be only directlyaccessible by the first processor(s) 524 (and thus not be directlyaccessible by the second processor(s) 526) and the second memory 534 maybe only directly accessible by the second processor(s) 526 (and thus notbe directly accessible by the first processor(s) 524). In theseembodiments, the first and second processor(s) 524 and 526,respectively, may share information via one or more communication buses,such as a SPI bus. In other embodiments, at least one of the firstmemory 532 and the second memory 534 may be a shared memory that isdirectly accessible by both the first processor(s) 524 and the secondprocessor(s) 526. In these embodiments, the first and secondprocessor(s) 524 and 526, respectively, may share information by storingthe information to be shared in the shared memory. Additionally (oralternatively), the first and second processor(s) 524 and 526,respectively, may share information via one or more communication buses.

In some embodiments, the first operating system(s) 528, firstprocessor(s) 524, and the first memory 532 can together be configured toprovide vocal guidance as described in more detail elsewhere herein. Forexample, when the playback device is coupled to the second computingdevice 516 (e.g., a source device such as a smartphone) over the secondcommunication link 518 (e.g., a BLUETOOTH connection) via the secondnetwork circuit 522, the playback device can provide vocal guidance toinform the user of the connection status. For example, the device mayplay back corresponding audio such as “connected to John's iPhone.” Inat least some embodiments, these operations can be performed entirelyusing the first processor(s) 524 and the first memory 532, withoutnecessarily requiring operation of the second processor(s) 526 andsecond memory 534. This approach can reduce power consumption byproviding vocal guidance while relying only on the less power-hungryfirst processor(s) 524. In at least some embodiments, the correspondingaudio can be selected using a library of pre-recorded audio clips, whichcan be stored in the first memory 532. As described in more detailbelow, particular audio clips can be selected and optionally combined toprovide suitable vocal guidance to the user. Additionally oralternatively, the library of pre-recorded audio clips and/or the vocalguidance engine itself can be revised, updated, or overwrittenperiodically by receiving updates from a first computing device 510(e.g., one or more remote servers) over the first communication link 512(e.g., a WLAN connection). In such instances, the information andinstructions to update the vocal guidance engine and/or the library canbe transmitted from the second processor(s) 526 to the firstprocessor(s) 524, and/or the second processor(s) 526 may update thefirst memory 532 directly.

It should be appreciated that the processing components 504 and the datastorage 506 may be implemented in any of a variety of ways. In someembodiments, each of the first processor(s) 524 are separate anddistinct from the second processor(s) 526. For example, the firstprocessor(s) 524 may combined with at least part of the first memory 532in a first system-on-chip (SoC) and the second processor(s) 526 may becombined with at least part of the second memory 534 in a second SoCthat is separate from the first SoC. In other embodiments, the firstprocessor(s) 524 may be combined with the second processor(s) 526 in asingle circuit die. For example, the first processor(s) 524, the one ormore circuit processors 526, at least part of the first memory 532, andat least part of the second memory 534 may be integrated into a singleSoC. Thus, the processing components 504 and the data storage 506 may beimplemented in any number of circuit dies.

The electronic component(s) 508 may comprise any of a variety ofcomponents that the processing components 504 may control or otherwisecommunicate with. Examples of such components include: a display, anelectric motor, a heating element, a switch, a speaker, a light, and asensor (e.g., a microphone, a capacitive touch sensor, an infrared lightsensor, etc.). The implementation of the electronic component(s) 508 mayvary based on the particular function of the device 500. For example,the device 500 may be a playback device and the electronic component(s)508 may comprise a speaker for sound reproduction and one or morecapacitive touch sensors for detection of audio playback commands (e.g.,play/pause, increase volume, decrease volume, etc.).

Some electronic component(s) 508 may not directly interface with theprocessing components 504. Instead, these electronic component(s) 508may interface with the processing components 504 via intermediarycomponent(s) 514. For example, the electronic component(s) 508 maycomprise a capacitive touch sensor that the processing components 504may not be able to directly read. In this example, the intermediarycomponent(s) 514 may comprise a programmable SoC (PSoC) that isconfigured to read the capacitive touch sensor and provide an outputover a communication bus (e.g., an I2C bus) that may be received by theprocessing components 504. Other example intermediary component(s) 514include audio codecs and amplifiers (e.g., class D audio amplifiers).

In some embodiments, only the first processor(s) 524 communicate (e.g.,is communicatively coupled) with the intermediary component(s) 514and/or the electronic component(s) 508. Thus, the second processor(s)526 may not directly communication with the intermediary component(s)514 and/or electronic component(s) 508. By routing all communicationwith the intermediary component(s) 514 and/or the electroniccomponent(s) 508 through the first processor(s) 524, the secondprocessor(s) 526 may be completely turned off without interfering withsuch communication. For example, the first processor(s) 524 maycommunicate with intermediary component(s) 514 over an I2C bus that isnot directly accessible by the second processor(s) 526 (e.g., the secondprocessor(s) 526 cannot directly transmit and/or receive data over theI2C bus).

In some embodiments, the second processor(s) 526 may be booted beforethe first processor(s) 524. For example, the second processor(s) 526 mayinitially boot first and provide code to the first processor(s) 524 overa communication bus, such as a SPI bus. The first processor(s) 524 mayboot upon receipt of the code from the second processor(s) 526. Once thefirst processor(s) 524 have completed booting, the second processor(s)526 may be put in a low-power state should the second processor(s) 526no longer be needed. In other embodiments, the first processor(s) 524may be booted before second processor(s) 526.

It should be appreciated that one or more components may be omitted fromthe device 500 without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, the device 500 may only communicateusing a single protocol (or set of protocols), such as IEEE 802protocols, and the second network circuit 522 that enables communicationwith the second computing device 516 may be omitted. Additionally (oralternatively), the electronic component(s) 508 in the device 500 maynot need any of the intermediary component(s) 514. For example, theelectronic component(s) 508 may only include components that maydirectly interface with the processing components 504. Thus, theintermediary component(s) 514 may be omitted.

In some embodiments, aspects of the distributed architecture shown inFIG. 5 may be integrated into a module (e.g., a system-on-a-module(SoM)) for easy integration into a device. An example of such a moduleimplementation is shown in FIG. 6 by module 600. As shown, the module600 comprises a circuit board 602 onto which various components may beattached including processing components 504, data storage 506, andpower component(s) 612. The network interface component(s) 502 may bepartially integrated into the module 600. For example, internal networkinterface component(s) 616A may be mounted to the circuit board 602 andcommunicate via communication interface 604 with external networkinterface component(s) 616B that are not attached to the circuit board602. Similarly, the intermediate components 514 may be partiallyintegrated into the module 600. For example, internal intermediarycomponent(s) 610A may be mounted to the circuit board 602 andcommunicate via electronic component interface 607 with externalintermediary component(s) 616B that are not attached to the circuitboard 602.

The circuit board 602 may comprise a substrate (e.g., an insulativesubstrate) and a plurality of conductive elements (e.g., circuit traces,pads, vias, etc.). The substrate may provide mechanical support for thecomponents mounted to the circuit board 602. The substrate may be arigid substrate (e.g., to form a rigid circuit board) or a flexiblesubstrate (e.g., to form a flexible circuit board). The plurality ofconductive elements may be disposed on and/or integrated with thesubstrate to couple (e.g., electrically couple) components attached tothe circuit board 602.

The power component(s) 612 may distribute power to one or more othercomponents of the module 600 (e.g., other components attached to thecircuit board 602). The power component(s) 614 may perform, for example,any combination of the following operations: (1) DC/DC conversion, (2)battery charging, and (3) power sequencing. The power component(s) 614may be implemented as, for example, a power management integratedcircuit (PMIC). The power component(s) 612 may receive power from apower source 614 via a power interface 604. The power source 614 maycomprise an internal power source, such as a battery, and/or an externalpower source, such as a wall outlet. The power interface 604 maycomprise one or more ports (e.g., one or more electrical connectorsattached to the circuit board 602) where the module 600 may be coupled(e.g., electrically coupled) to the power source 604.

The processing components 504 and the data storage 506 may be attachedto the circuit 602 in a variety of ways depending on, for example, howthe processing components 504 and the data storage 506 are constructed.In some embodiments, the processing components 504 and the data storage506 may be integrated into a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) that may beattached to the circuit board 602. In other embodiments, the processingcomponents 504 and the data storage 506 may be integrated into separatecircuit dies that may be separately attached to the circuit board 602(e.g., and electrically coupled using circuit traces). For example,first processor(s) (e.g., first processor(s) 524) and a first portion ofthe data storage 506 (e.g., a volatile memory accessible by the firstprocessor(s)) may be integrated into a first SoC, the secondprocessor(s) (e.g., second processor(s) 526) and a second portion of thedata storage 506 (e.g., a volatile memory accessible by the secondprocessor(s)) may be integrated into a second SoC, and a remainder ofthe data storage 506 (e.g., a non-volatile memory accessible by thefirst and/or second processors) may be integrated into a separate memoryintegrated circuit (IC). In this example, each of the first SoC, thesecond SoC, and the memory IC may be attached to the circuit board 602.Thus, the processing components 504 and the data storage 506 may bedistributed between any number of ICs that may be attached to thecircuit board 602.

The network interface component(s) 502 may be distributed between theinternal network interface component(s) 616A that may be attached to thecircuit board 602 and the external network interface component(s) 616Bthat may be external to the module 600. The internal network interfacecomponent(s) 616A may be coupled to the external network interfacecomponent(s) 616B via a communication interface 606. The communicationinterface 606 may comprise one or more ports (e.g., one or moreelectrical connectors attached to the circuit board 602) where themodule 600 may be coupled (e.g., electrically coupled) to the externalnetwork interface component(s) 616B. The particular way in which thenetwork interface component(s) 502 are distributed may vary based on theparticular implementation. In some embodiments, the internal networkinterface component(s) 616A may comprise one or more ICs to generatewireless signals including, for example, one or more wirelesstransceiver ICs (e.g., a WI-FI transceiver IC, a BLUETOOTH transceiverIC, or a WI-FI and BLUETOOTH transceiver IC) while the external networkinterface component(s) 616B may comprise one or more components thatradiate the wireless signal (e.g., one or more antennas). In otherembodiments, all of the network interface component(s) 502 may beintegrated into the internal network interface component(s) 616A and thecommunication interface 606 may be removed. In still yet otherembodiments, all of the network interface component(s) 502 mayintegrated into the external network interface component(s) 616B and thecommunication interface 606 may couple the processing components to theexternal network interface component(s) 616B.

The intermediary component(s) 514 may be distributed between theinternal intermediary component(s) 610A that may be attached to thecircuit board 602 and the external intermediary component 610B that maybe external to the module 600. The internal intermediary component(s)610A may be coupled to the external intermediary component 610B via anelectronic component interface 608. The electronic component interface608 may comprise one or more ports (e.g., one or more electricalconnectors attached to the circuit board 602) where the module 600 maybe coupled (e.g., electrically coupled) to the external intermediarycomponent(s) 610B. The particular way in which the intermediarycomponent(s) 514 are distributed may vary based on the particularimplementation. In some embodiments, all of the intermediarycomponent(s) 514 may be integrated into the internal network interfacecomponent(s) 616A. For example, the internal intermediary component(s)610A may comprise one or more audio amplifiers that are coupled (via theelectronic component interface 608) to electronic component(s) 508, suchas one or more speakers. In other embodiments, each of the internalintermediary component(s) 610A and the external intermediarycomponent(s) 610B may comprise at least one component. In still yetother embodiments, all of the intermediary component(s) 514 may beintegrated into the external network interface component(s) 616B.

It should be appreciated that the module 600 shown in FIG. 6 may bemodified without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Insome embodiments, the power components 612 may be made external to themodule 600. In this example, the power interface 604 may couple theexternal power components 612 to one or more components attached to thecircuit board 602 (e.g., the processing component 504 and/or the datastorage 506).

IV. Vocal Guidance Systems and Methods

As noted previously, audio playback devices may provide vocal guidanceto users to communicate relevant information regarding operation orstatus of the playback device. Such vocal guidance can be particularlyuseful in the case of wireless playback devices, as vocal guidance canbe used to provide information regarding a battery level, a connectionstatus (e.g., BLUETOOTH connection to or disconnection from a particularsource device), an incoming call notification, or other suchinformational output.

Another example of vocal guidance relates to audio transfer betweenplayback devices. Certain media playback systems may be capable of“moving” audio playback from one device to another. For example, a userlistening to audio content via wireless headphones while away from homemay later return home and wish to transfer audio playback from thewireless headphones to stationary devices placed in the user's home. Insome embodiments, the user may provide instructions to transfer theaudio playback (e.g., by activating one or more buttons on theheadphones). In response, the media playback system may determine theappropriate destination playback device(s), after which audio playbackmay continue on those devices and may be discontinued on the wirelessheadphones. In some instances, it can be useful to alert the user ofthis activity, for example by providing vocal guidance. As one example,if the media playback system transfers audio playback from the wirelessheadphones to a playback device located in the user's living room, thevocal guidance can take the form of audio output played back via thewireless headphones such as “audio moved to Living Room.”

Because audio playback devices may have limited memory and/or processingpower, the available library of pre-recorded audio output for vocalguidance may be generally restricted to a handful of pre-selected wordsor phrases. In particular, there is a need to provide sufficientinformation to a user via vocal guidance without necessarily relying onremote computing devices to generate the audio output.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a vocal guidance engine 700 inaccordance with embodiments of the present technology. The vocalguidance engine 700 includes a vocal guidance control 702, which iscommunicatively coupled to a vocal guidance rules database 704 and avocal guidance library 706. The library 706 can include a plurality ofpre-recorded audio clips that can be used to generate audio output. Therules database 704 can include one or more rules or algorithms tospecify the manner in which various clips from the library 706 can becombined (e.g., concatenated or stitched) to provide a suitable audiooutput.

The vocal guidance control 702 also receives an input of the devicestate 708, which can be or include, for example a BLUETOOTH connectivitystatus, a battery level, incoming call information, an audio transportactivity, or other such device information. In operation, the control702 may drive output of vocal guidance based on the device state 708,the rules database 704, and the library 706 together. For example, whenthe playback device is newly connected to a source device via aBLUETOOTH connection (as reflected in the device state 708), the control702 accesses the rules database 704 and the library 706 to either selecta suitable audio output 712, and/or to synthesize an audio output 710.For example, if an entire audio output is stored in the library 706, theaudio output can be selected for playback as vocal guidance.Alternatively, various audio clips in the vocal guidance library 706 canbe selected and combined for output. For example, a first audio clip of“connected to” and a second clip of “iPhone” can be combined together toa single audio output. In some embodiments, some or all of the audiooutput can be synthesized using a text-to-speech algorithm, whichtranslates textual information into an audio file. Such synthesizedaudio output can optionally be combined with pre-recorded audio clipsstored in the library 706. Whether synthesized or selected, the audiooutput is transmitted for playback (block 714) to audio playbackcomponents (e.g., amplifiers, electroacoustic transducers, etc.).

As noted previously, some wireless playback devices can include twowireless transceivers configured to communicate over separate datanetworks (e.g., WIFI and BLUETOOTH). In operation, the playback devicemay be paired locally with a source device over a first data network(e.g., pairing with a smartphone over a BLUETOOTH connection). In someembodiments, the playback device can provide vocal guidance regarding aconnection status by receiving information from a source device such asa device ID, MAC address, device model, etc. The control 702 may thenaccess the library 706 and the rules database 704 to retrieve orsynthesize an appropriate audio output based at least in part on theidentity of the source device. For example, if the device ID of theconnected source device is “Tom's Samsung Galaxy Tab S4,” thecorresponding audio output based on accessing the library may be“Samsung Galaxy Tab.” This identified audio output can be stitchedtogether as needed to generate a suitable output, such as “disconnectedfrom Samsung Galaxy Tab.” This audio output may be a pre-recorded audiofile (or combination of files) stored in the library 706, and so avoidsundesirably robotic-sounding audio that can result from fullytext-to-speech based approaches.

In various embodiments, the library 706 and/or the rules database 704can be updated or revised. For example, the library 706 may belanguage-specific, and accordingly may be overwritten with a differentlibrary if the user selects a different language for the device.Additionally or alternatively, the library may be updated to includeadditional audio clips (e.g., additional device names, room names,etc.). In such instances, updating the rules database 704 and/or thelibrary 706 can involve communicating with one or more remote computingdevices over a wide area network connection (e.g., over a WI-FIconnection).

In some embodiments, the rules database 704 can include one or morerules that specify which audio clips to be played back under variousconditions and when to stitch them together. For example, the rulesdatabase can specify certain combinations of variables which can then beassociated with particular audio clips in the library 706. For example,in the case of a newly connected source device over BLUETOOTH, the rulesdatabase 704 can include a rule specifying a combination of the outputs“connected to” and “<device name>” where <device name> is a variablethat can be populated with a particular entry in the library 706. Invarious examples, the particular rules 704 can be language-agnostic ormay be specific to particular languages or sets of languages.

Table 1 illustrates an example of various parameters that can be usedfor vocal guidance. As shown below, exemplary types of parametersinclude device name, caller name, battery level, music service providername, language, voice assistant name (e.g., ALEXA), and room name (e.g.,“Bedroom”). In various embodiments, the device name can be or includeinformation obtained via a BLUETOOTH or other suitable wirelesscommunication network. For example, a connection over BLUETOOTH canprovide a device ID as well as a Class of Device (CoD) field. The deviceID may be user-customized or can include default values set by amanufacturer or retailer.

TABLE 1 Symbol Parameter Type Use Case or Event D Device name BLUETOOTHconnection status C Caller name Incoming call B Battery level Device on,battery low M Music service provider Music service unavailable name LLanguage Language setup complete V Voice assistant name When voiceassistant setup complete R Room name When moving audio playback

In various embodiments, a plurality of audio clips can be pre-recordedand stored (e.g., in the library 706) for each of the parameter types.For example, for “battery level,” pre-recorded audio clips ranging from5% to 100%, in 5% increments, can be stored. Similarly, pre-recordedaudio clips can be stored that correspond to specified music serviceproviders, languages, voice assistants, and rooms. With respect todevice names, a set of audio clips can be stored in the library 706corresponding to various hardware devices likely to be encountered assource devices. For example, a plurality of audio clips can be stored inthe library 706 corresponding to audio output of “iPhone,” “SamsungGalaxy Tab,” and other such device names.

Table 2 illustrates examples of various audio clips that can bepre-recorded that can be used for vocal guidance. As shown below, theseexample clips can be stored (e.g., in the library 706) for use inproviding vocal guidance.

TABLE 2 Clip ID Recorded Phrase Filename 1 “Your battery is at”/v/g/1/1.mp3 2 “Connected to” /v/g/1/2.mp3 3 “and” /v/g/1/3.mp3 4 “Callfrom” /v/g/1/4.mp3 5 “Sound moved from” /v/g/1/5.mp3 6 “Please chargenow. Powering off.” /v/g/1/51.mp3

Table 3 illustrates an example of vocal guidance in the form ofrule-based audio outputs based on particular events. For example, whenbattery status is to be output via vocal guidance, the vocal guidancecontrol 702 can access the rule (“1, B”) in the rules database 704. Theaudio associated with Clip ID 1 in Table 2 is then concatenated withvalue B from Table 1, resulting in an audio output of “your battery isat 90%.” The other listed rules can be applied similarly, providingrule-based audio outputs that provide relevant information to a user inthe form of vocal guidance.

TABLE 3 Use Case or Event Rule Audio Output Battery status (1, B) “Yourbattery is at 90%” Connection status (2, D) “Connected to iPhone”Connection status (2, D, 3, D) “Connected to iPhone and iPad” Movingaudio (5, R) “Sound moved from Kitchen” Incoming call (4, C) “Call fromJane”

The examples shown in Tables 1-3 are for purposes of illustration only,and one of skill in the art will readily appreciate that there may bemany variations in the particular parameters, rules, and audio outputslisted here. Additionally, the rules can include further complexity suchas exceptions (e.g., scenarios in which the rule should not be applied,or in which the rule should be varied), and fallback values for audiooutput when a particular value is not identified. For example, if a roomname is not identified, the audio output can provide an outputcorresponding to the particular playback device to which audio is moved(e.g., “Sound moved to Beam”).

In various examples, the rules can include logic for matching one ormore parameters to particular audio clips. This matching may bestraightforward for certain parameters. For example, battery levels canbe rounded to the nearest 5% and matched to the correspondingpre-recorded audio with the selected percentage value. Similarly, roomnames can be selected from pre-defined lists, and so each room name canbe matched via an exact text match to a pre-defined list of all possibleroom names and corresponding audio output. Voice assistant names andmusic service provider names may likewise be selected using anexact-match lookup from pre-identified lists of possible names of voiceassistants and music service providers that are supported by theplayback device.

In various embodiments, audio outputs associated with the parameter type“caller name” may either be synthesized using a text-to-speech algorithmor pre-recorded audio corresponding to a plurality of common names canbe stored in the library 706. Additionally or alternatively, theplayback device may determine whether or not the incoming call matches astored contact in the user's device or other address book, and mayprovide an output in the form of “call from known contact” or “call fromunknown contact.”

As noted previously, the device name can be or include informationobtained from the source device itself, for example via a BLUETOOTH orother suitable wireless communication network. In some embodiments, whenthe source device connects to the playback device via a BLUETOOTH orother suitable connection, the source device can provide a device ID aswell as a Class of Device (CoD) and any other such identifyinginformation. The device ID may be user-customized or can include defaultvalues set by a manufacturer or reseller. As such, providing vocalguidance that incorporates a device name can be challenging due to thewide range of values that can be found in this field.

To address these challenges, the rules for matching a particular sourcedevice to a suitable pre-recorded audio output can take a number offorms. In some embodiments, the device ID provided by the source devicecan be searched against a list of device names stored in the library706. Based on textual overlap, a particular device name stored in thelibrary 706 can be matched to the particular device ID. For example, ifthe device ID is “Jared's iPhone X,” the source device may be matched tothe device name “iPhone X” and a corresponding audio clip can be used toprovide an audio output (e.g., “connected to iPhone X”).

In some embodiments, the device ID may not match (e.g., may have no orinsufficient textual overlap with) any of the device names stored in thelibrary 706. In such instances, a fallback device name can be used foraudio output. The fallback value may be, for example, based on the Classof Device field (e.g., “smartphone,” “laptop,” etc.), based on themanufacturer (e.g., as determined using a MAC address, serial number, orother such information), or the fallback can be a catch-all term such as“device.” Accordingly, if no specific device name is matched to theparticular source device, the vocal guidance may provide an audio outputsuch as “connected to smartphone,” “connected to Samsung device,” orsimply “connected to device.”

In at least some instances, the rules can be language-agnostic, suchthat only the particular parameters and associated pre-recorded audiooutputs need to be updated or revised when switching between onelanguage and another. Depending on the particular grammatical structure,in some instances some or all of the rules themselves may also bemodified as needed.

In some embodiments, the library of pre-recorded audio clips, the rulesdatabase, and/or any component of the vocal guidance engine can berevised, updated, or overwritten periodically by receiving updates froman external computing device. For example, the library may be updated tobe populated with room names that correspond to the rooms that have beenidentified with that particular user account or media playback system.As another example, the playback device may transmit text to beassociated with new audio output, such as a particular name or word forwhich the library does not currently have an associated audio clip. Theremote computing devices may in turn generate or retrieve a suitableaudio clip which can then be transmitted to the playback device, forexample by updating the library. In some examples, the playback devicemay retrieve updated vocal guidance data only when connected via a widearea communications network (e.g., via a WIFI connection). As notedpreviously, wireless playback devices with distributed architectures mayonly periodically communicate via such networks and/or may onlyperiodically activate the associated processors and memory. As such, byonly updating the library when connected to a wide area network, thepower consumption can be reduced.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method 800 for providing vocal guidancefor a playback device. The method 800 begins in block 802 withmaintaining a vocal guidance library on a playback device. The vocalguidance library can include at least a plurality of source device namesand corresponding audio content to be played back to indicate aconnectivity status with respect to the source device. For example, toindicate a BLUETOOTH connectivity status, particular audio content canbe stored in the library such as “connected to,” and “disconnected from”along with audio content corresponding to various possible sourcedevices.

In block 804, the playback device receives information via a firstwireless data network. This wireless data network can be different fromthe wireless data network over which the playback device is coupled withthe source device. In some examples, the first wireless data network isa WIFI network. The information received over the WIFI network can beused to update the library (block 806). For example, the information caninclude new source device names, new audio content, or new rulesindicating when a particular audio content should be played back basedon the source device ID or other information. Based on this information,the playback device can update the library, for example by expanding thelibrary or by overwriting at least a portion of the library.

In block 808, the playback device connects to a particular source deviceover a second wireless data network. In some examples, the secondwireless data network can be different from the first. In someinstances, the first data network can be a WIFI network and the seconddata network can be a BLUETOOTH network.

The method 800 continues in block 810 with retrieving audio content fromthe library that is associated with the connected source device. Forexample, as described previously, the source device can provideinformation to the playback device, such as a device ID, device class,etc. The playback device may access the library to search for a matchfor the device ID or other such identifying information. The match canbe an exact match, a partial match, a match with the greatest degree oftextual overlap, or a match identified using any other suitablecriteria. Once the source device is matched to a particular device nameand associated audio content in the library, the retrieved audio contentis played back (block 812). For example, if the source device provides adevice ID of “Sally's Surface Pro,” the playback device may access thelibrary and find a closest match for a device name of “Surface Pro.” Theplayback device may play back an audio output that includes this match,for example the phrase “connected to Surface Pro.”

As noted previously, the vocal guidance described herein may beadvantageously employed in specialized devices separate and apart fromplayback devices. For example, the vocal guidance described herein maybe employed in any Internet of Things (IoT) device. An IoT device maybe, for example, a device designed to perform one or more specific tasks(e.g., making coffee, reheating food, locking a door, providing power toanother device, playing music) based on information received via anetwork (e.g., a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet). Examplesof such IoT devices include: a smart thermostat, a smart doorbell, asmart lock (e.g., a smart door lock), a smart outlet, a smart light, asmart camera, a smart kitchen appliance (e.g., a smart oven, a smartcoffee maker, a smart microwave), and a smart speaker (including thenetwork accessible and/or voice-enabled playback devices describedabove).

V. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

It should be appreciated that references to transmitting information toparticular components, devices, and/or systems herein should beunderstood to include transmitting information (e.g., messages,requests, responses) indirectly or directly to the particularcomponents, devices, and/or systems. Thus, the information beingtransmitted to the particular components, devices, and/or systems maypass through any number of intermediary components, devices, and/orsystems prior to reaching its destination. For example, a control devicemay transmit information to a playback device by first transmitting theinformation to a computing system that, in turn, transmits theinformation to the playback device. Further, modifications may be madeto the information by the intermediary components, devices, and/orsystems. For example, intermediary components, devices, and/or systemsmay modify a portion of the information, reformat the information,and/or incorporate additional information.

Similarly, references to receiving information from particularcomponents, devices, and/or systems herein should be understood toinclude receiving information (e.g., messages, requests, responses)indirectly or directly from the particular components, devices, and/orsystems. Thus, the information being received from the particularcomponents, devices, and/or systems may pass through any number ofintermediary components, devices, and/or systems prior to beingreceived. For example, a control device may receive information from aplayback device indirectly by receiving information from a cloud serverthat originated from the playback device. Further, modifications may bemade to the information by the intermediary components, devices, and/orsystems. For example, intermediary components, devices, and/or systemsmay modify a portion of the information, reformat the information,and/or incorporate additional information.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

1. A playback device comprising: one or more amplifiers configured todrive one or more electroacoustic transducers; a first wirelesstransceiver configured to facilitate communication via a first datanetwork; a second wireless transceiver configured to facilitatecommunication via a second data network different from the first; one ormore processors; and data storage having stored therein instructionsthat, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations comprising: maintaining a library thatincludes one or more source device names and corresponding audiocontent, the audio content configured to be played back via the one ormore amplifiers to indicate association of a particular source devicewith the playback device via the first data network; receiving, via thesecond data network, information from one or more remote computingdevices; and based on the information, updating the library by: (i)adding at least one new source device name and corresponding audiocontent; (ii) changing at least one source device name or itscorresponding audio content; or both (i) and (ii).
 2. The playbackdevice of claim 1, wherein the first data network comprises at least oneBLUETOOTH network, and wherein the second data network comprises atleast one WIFI network.
 3. The playback device of claim 1, wherein theone or more processors comprises: one or more first processorsconfigured to execute at least one real-time operating system (RTOS);and one or more second processors configured to execute at least onegeneral-purpose operating system (GPOS), wherein the one or more secondprocessors have a different construction than the one or more firstprocessors, wherein the data storage comprises a first memory onlydirectly accessible by the one or more first processors, and a secondmemory only directly accessible by the one or more second processors,and wherein the library is stored in the second memory.
 4. The playbackdevice of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: associatinga first source device with the playback via the first network;receiving, via the first network, a source device identifier from thefirst source device; accessing the library to identify a source devicename corresponding to the source device identifier; accessing thelibrary to identify audio content corresponding to the identified sourcedevice ID; and playing back the identified audio content via the one ormore amplifiers.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the audio contentcomprises an audio recording of the source device name.
 6. The device ofclaim 4, wherein accessing the library to identify the source devicename corresponding to the source device identifier comprises identifyingtextual overlap between the source device identifier and the sourcedevice name.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the identifying comprisesidentifying textual overlap between the source device identifier and twoor more distinct device names, the operations further comprisingselecting the device name with the greatest degree of textual overlapwith the source device identifier.
 8. A method, comprising: maintaining,via data storage of a playback device, a library that includes one ormore source device names and corresponding audio content, the audiocontent configured to be played back via the one or more amplifiers toindicate association of a particular source device with the playbackdevice via a first wireless data network; receiving, via a secondwireless data network different from the first, information from one ormore remote computing devices; and based on the information, updatingthe library by: (i) adding at least one new source device name andcorresponding audio content; (ii) changing at least one source devicename or its corresponding audio content; or both (i) and (ii).
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the first wireless data network comprises atleast one BLUETOOTH network, and wherein the second wireless datanetwork comprises at least one WIFI network.
 10. The method of claim 8,further comprising: associating a first source device with the playbackvia the first wireless data network; receiving, via the first network, asource device identifier from the first source device; accessing thelibrary to identify a source device name corresponding to the sourcedevice identifier; accessing the library to identify audio contentcorresponding to the identified source device ID; and playing back theidentified audio content via the playback device.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the audio content comprises an audio recording of thesource device name.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein accessing thelibrary to identify the source device name corresponding to the sourcedevice identifier comprises identifying textual overlap between thesource device identifier and the source device name.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the identifying comprises identifying textual overlapbetween the source device identifier and two or more distinct devicenames, the method further comprising selecting the device name with thegreatest degree of textual overlap with the source device identifier.14. The method of claim 8, wherein maintaining the library comprisesstoring the library in a first memory of the data storage that is onlydirectly accessible via one or more first processors configured toexecute at least one general-purpose operating system (GPOS), the datastorage including a second memory that is only directly accessible viaone or more second processors configured to execute at least onereal-time operating system (RTOS), wherein the one or more secondprocessors have a different construction than the one or more firstprocessors.
 15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable mediastoring instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of aplayback device, cause the playback device to perform operationscomprising: maintaining, via data storage of the playback device, alibrary that includes one or more source device names and correspondingaudio content, the audio content configured to be played back via theone or more amplifiers to indicate association of a particular sourcedevice with the playback device via a first wireless data network;receiving, via a second wireless data network different from the first,information from one or more remote computing devices; and based on theinformation, updating the library by: (i) adding at least one new sourcedevice name and corresponding audio content; (ii) changing at least onesource device name or its corresponding audio content; or both (i) and(ii).
 16. The computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the firstwireless data network comprises at least one BLUETOOTH network, andwherein the second wireless data network comprises at least one WIFInetwork.
 17. The computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: associating a first source device with theplayback via the first wireless data network; receiving, via the firstnetwork, a source device identifier from the first source device;accessing the library to identify a source device name corresponding tothe source device identifier; accessing the library to identify audiocontent corresponding to the identified source device ID; and playingback the identified audio content via the playback device.
 18. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the audio content comprisesan audio recording of the source device name.
 19. The computer-readablemedia of claim 17, wherein accessing the library to identify the sourcedevice name corresponding to the source device identifier comprisesidentifying textual overlap between the source device identifier and thesource device name.
 20. The computer-readable media of claim 19, whereinthe identifying comprises identifying textual overlap between the sourcedevice identifier and two or more distinct device names, the operationsfurther comprising selecting the device name with the greatest degree oftextual overlap with the source device identifier.